Media Advisory

Teleconference with the Commanding Officer of the DART in Pakistan

MA 05.064 - October 28, 2005

OTTAWA – Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Voith, Commanding Officer of the Canadian Forces Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), will participate in a media teleconference on Monday, Oct. 31, 2005 from Gahri Dupatta, Pakistan.

The teleconference will begin at 11 a.m. (EST) and will last about 45 minutes. Members of the media wishing to participate must call no later than five minutes prior to the teleconference. Due to the large number of participants anticipated, media will be initially restricted to one question each as regulated by the conference operator.

Media interested in participating in this teleconference can do so by calling the following numbers:
1-888-265-0464 (toll free) or 613-954-4096 (National Capital Region). The reservation code for the call is 1983597 .

Background

The Canadian Forces (CF) contribution to the ongoing relief effort following the earthquake in Pakistan is known as Operation PLATEAU.

Comprising more than 200 CF personnel, the DART is designed to conduct emergency relief operations for up to 40 days in an effort to bridge the gap until members of the international community arrive to provide long-term help. The DART area of operations as part of Operation PLATEAU is the Muzaffarabad area.

A static DART medical clinic has been established in the town of Gahri Dupatta. As well, DART mobile medical clinics are also operating in the Muzaffarabad area. As of 0100 hrs EST on 28 Oct, the DART had provided medical treatment to approximately 1,221 earthquake victims. The DART is also producing purified potable water using their Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units (ROWPUs). As of 0100 on 28 Oct, over 54,200 litres of purified water have been produced.

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NOTE TO THE EDITORS: Canadian Forces (CF) Combat Camera has video footage of DART in Pakistan available at the following site: www.combatcamera.forces.gc.ca/common/combatcamera/news Click on Op PLATEAU. The footage is transmitted over the Internet and will be updated regularly when available. The footage is in MPEG 4 format and needs to be re-sized for broadcast. Once re-sized, it will result in SAT videophone quality. Directions for re-sizing are also posted on the website.

Photos of Operation PLATEAU can be found at www.forces.gc.ca/site/gallery/index_e.asp.